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As an academic medical center, research is important to patient care. Discoveries lead to new treatments, prevention and cures for high blood pressure, heart attack, congestive heart failure and other diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Heart and Vascular Center patients have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials of new treatment techniques, medications and devices. Heart and Vascular Center physicians participate in significant local and national clinical research trials to study many forms of heart and vascular disease.
Examples of cardiology research at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin include:
- PFO closure in stroke patients — a congenital heart defect, a patent foramen ovale (PFO), may be the cause of migraine headaches for some people. Froedtert & The Medical College are participating in the Premium Migraine Clinical Trial, a national study to evaluate a new treatment for migraines. A PFO may allow unfiltered blood to travel to the brain, triggering a migraine. If the hole is closed, the migraines can be reduced or abolished.
- Heart failure — The Heart and Vascular Center is involved in telehealth research studies, which involve monitoring people with heart failure in their homes. Telehealth uses electronic information and telecommunications technology to support long-distance clinical health care. The center is also conducting research to examine the mechanisms and causes of heart failure.
- Cardiac MRI — an active research program is studying plaque development in arteries using high-field MRI, determining predictors of clinical outcomes in amyloid heart disease and utilizing new, noninvasive means of identifying viable (alive) heart muscle following heart attacks. Collaboration with Marquette University involves sophisticated computational fluid dynamic modeling of vascular disease.
- Vascular physiology research — researchers are looking at how mitochondria (energy-producing structures within cells) affect the function of blood vessels in patients with diabetes. Investigators also first described the adverse effect of amyloid proteins on microvascular function and are currently studying potential new approaches to treatment.
- Strain and three-dimensional Echocardiography — researchers are utilizing new and more sensitive means of early detection of cardiac dysfunction in various models of heart disease such as myocardial infarction, amyloidosis, chemotherapy-induced heart failure, transplant rejection and radiation injury using strain and 3-D echocardiography.
Author: Marla Fraunfelder Last Review Date: Nov. 10, 2008 |
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